In my print piece, I also mentioned the National Readership Survey figures for the six months to March 2010, which showed that the paper had an estimated daily audience of 1,394,000, up by 133% on the year before.

But quantity is one thing. What about the quality. Well, according to sampling carried out by the Standard, the proportion of ABC1 readers - those affluent social class categories that advertisers most hope to reach - stands at 76%.

That's roughly the same as it was when the paper was a paid-for title. This isn't so surprising, since the overwhelming bulk of readers work in central London.

It also reflects the consistent message over the last eight months by the editor, Geordie Greig, about the need to maintain the Standard as a "quality paper providing serious journalism."

That makes the Standard unique among frees and gives rise to a joke Greig told at a recent LSE conference. Don't think of the paper as a free, think of it as priceless.